by Erin R Flynn
“Yes, but not exactly like that. That’s naked shifters dancing on platforms showing off and some of us shifted roaming around to entertain the tourists. I’m not talking like a sex club, but more how our shifter clubs are now, but if humans want to join they can. No rules besides no drugs, weapons, yadda, yadda, same as now. No one underage. I just mean like if someone wants to go have sex because all the nakedness is fun, let them. There is more to it, I swear, but either way, it’s my idea, and Vlad heard it and swooped in to take it over as always.”
I caught a glimpse of Joan and Gayle, two of my pack who had obviously thought to do the same as Simone and I. “I might have an idea, but I need to test something out and show you.” She gave me a funny look, but instead I hurried to catch up with Joan and Gayle. “Ladies, I need a favor.”
“Sure, Sera, anything,” Gayle replied. She would probably give me a kidney or two after I’d freed her from her abusive mate and sent him to the Shifter Council.
“I also need you guys to know this has to stay private. Like new siren power people might wanna kill to control kinda thing.” They nodded, and I moved closer to Simone. She gave me a worried look, and I smiled. “I just need to kiss you.”
“Didn’t know you swung that way,” she chuckled. It was a polite kiss with her lips barely parted, but that was enough for me to feed a sip. Damn, she was powerful. I stepped back shivering as Simone leaned against a tree, panting. “What did you do? I had a fucking orgasm, Sera.”
“I fed. Apparently sirens do that,” I answered nervously. “But that part I knew.” I waved Gayle closer. “I’m not going to feed from you, but I’m not sure what I’m doing, either, so just be patient with me.” She nodded, and I leaned down to kiss her, taking that power I’d just gotten from Simone and giving it to Gayle, kinda like how I’d pulled Harris’ anger before and he’d told me that people with chi talents could give the energy to others.
Gayle stumbled away from me, and luckily Joan caught her.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I feel great,” Gayle purred, staring at me with big, happy eyes. “What did you do to me?”
“If I’m right, I gave you the sip of power I fed from Simone.” Everyone gave me a look like I was crazy. “Look, I know sirens have to feed. But Harris told me about people with chi talents being able to give people chi too. So I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I think it might be like workout energy. What I took from Simone might be ten minutes on a treadmill, whatever, she’ll recover. But giving it to Gayle pushed her workout or power max.”
“And once you hit a new level at the gym, that’s your new base or expected workout,” Simone muttered, picking up on what I was saying first. “Are you saying you think you can make the wolves Engle infected to be weak and submissive stronger?”
“I think so. Alena doesn’t use the power that way because they’re all so fucking strong. I mean, Theon isn’t even an enforcer in the Athens pack and like a nobody.” I got a few surprised looks at that. “Not only are most of them born, but they’re siren strains, so they start off damn powerful. So this isn’t a way she’s used to doing things. But I think I can. If I feed enough from people who can recuperate the sip of power, as Alena calls it, then I can pass it on and build up the wolves who need it to get where they should have been.”
“But what about you? You said you need to feed that way as a siren too? How much and how often?” Gayle asked, completely recovered now.
“Much more than I have,” I admitted with a heavy sigh. “She just matured enough to need to feed, is Alena’s guess, but that’s what put me in the hospital. She fed off that councilman, and instead of taking sips, she chugged on very old, very crazy power, and it affected him along with my blood. But for me, it like stalled my body out because I wasn’t ready for that or didn’t know how to process it. I’m not sure, but all these metaphysical and paranormal powers just throw me anyways.”
“No, I think you’ve got it pretty well, Sera.” Simone gave me a curious look, and then hope filled her eyes. “Are you saying you would want to use this club to feed?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I can’t sit there every night like an attraction or even scheduled nights because what if I get a call on a case? You’re telling me a problem, I’m telling you I’m in a predicament as well, and I just kinda feel there’s some overlap, you know? I mean, enough people know there’s a siren in Chicago now that it’s not hidden anymore. I’m fairly sure Vlad let that out to the councilman to distract him from what he’s been up to. I’m pissed about that.”
“So you’re seeing more of Vlad than the supportive friend you thought he was and want to help me take a stand on this?” Simone checked, cautious with her reactions.
“Why didn’t you tell me he wasn’t all I thought he was?”
“Would you have believed me?” she sighed, fidgeting with the lid of her coffee. “You met him first. The wolves don’t know him well besides he was smitten with Bernard. And you hate getting involved in this kinda balance of power stuff.”
“I do, and you’re right that maybe I might not have trusted either of you given I barely knew any of you. But what he’s doing is wrong, Simone, and I’m in the very heart of righting wrongs.” I glanced at Joan and Gayle. “You guys have some time to meet with Alena? I think we should talk this over with her and see what she thinks.”
“Yeah, actually, I’d love her insight,” Simone admitted, seeming almost unsure and a bit fragile for once. How badly had Vlad beaten her up—metaphorically speaking—to get this sort of reaction from her?
Everyone ended up back at the new house dropping off tons of stuff, so I invited Joan and Gayle to see the place. Of course Simone came with, but she’d already seen it. The drive wasn’t too bad for a Sunday morning, and in no time we were pulling into my driveway.
It still weirded me out a bit to think of a mansion as mine, but it was.
“Jesus, Sera, nice upgrade.” Gayle whistled as we headed towards the front door.
“Right? Guess going up against a councilman and winning has perks. Then again, I heard the plans for me if I hadn’t been strong enough, so good thing I was, huh?” I sounded frightened to myself, and suddenly Simone was in front of me.
“You want to make sure you’re feeding because you’re scared next time you might lose.”
“I’m always scared, Simone. There hasn’t been a day since I became a wolf that I’ve not been terrified of it all,” I admitted, stepping around her. This wasn’t the time for another breakdown even if I deserved it.
“Show me what you have learned,” Alena said by way of greeting. I waved Hagan over and gave him a kiss, feeding from him. “Yes, I know this. I taught it to you.”
“This is what Harris helped me figure out.” I turned to Gayle and kissed her, feeding her the power.
“Her power just jumped up a small notch,” Alena commented when we were done, moving closer to her. “You have taken from Hagan’s renewable energy and added it as a base to one of your other wolves. How did you do this? It could take this wolf a year or more to reach a new notch on her own.”
I explained what Harris had told me about chi talents and my exercise theory and in the end shrugged.
“Our daughter is a genius, Zeno,” Alena praised, pulling me into a big hug and kissing both my cheeks. “Never in all my years have I seen our powers used this way. Your grandmother has not, either.”
“I have a grandma?” I whispered, awestruck by that.
“Oh dear, I always forget you have not been our family forever,” she worried, hugging me again. “Yes, and grandfather and siblings. We are a massive family tree, my sweet girl.”
“Wow, grandparents. I never even met my own, if I had any. I’m not sure.”
“You never looked into your parents after you were in the FBI?” Hagan asked softly.
“They didn’t want me. I didn’t want them, either.” I shrugged again. “Obviously they left me because I wasn’t what they w
anted in their family, so even if there were aunts or uncles, they didn’t stick me with them. They wanted a fresh start, I think.”
“How so?” His tone was gentle, so I answered what I’d never told anyone.
“I remember them saying ‘baby’ a few times after we went to the Cubs game. They didn’t refer to me that way. I was always the ‘problem’ or ‘freak.’ I think they found out they were pregnant, and before they had the child, they ditched me so they could start over.” I cleared my throat and looked away from their pitying stares. “I’m not sure, though. I was five, and it’s just a theory pieced together from the few things I remember.”
“Never mind. You have a family that very much wants and appreciates you now,” Alena declared in that way that wasn’t dismissive but more decreed my letting of whatever was hurting me needed to stop. Strange thing was, it tended to work. “Your cleaning service is coming today and Noah’s workmen, so we must speak quickly if we are to have our conversation privately.”
Hagan left us after I gave him a normal kiss. He whimpered as he went like he wanted more, and I did too since we’d not had the chance for our alone time, first time together as I’d had with Reagan. Life kept getting in our way.
Simone outlined her plans for the club and explained about Noe and where Vlad was blocking her. I ended up getting a notepad and pen because there were things I had to check into.
“You would have to kiss a lot of frogs, my daughter,” Alena reminded me, knowing how I felt about casual anything… Even if that was changing because of my siren.
“I’m fine with kissing,” I assured her. “Fucking a lot of frogs, I’m not okay with.”
“You know, just because people know there’s a siren in town or rumored to be one doesn’t mean they know it’s you or some subterfuge isn’t a good idea,” Gayle offered. We all glanced at her, and she turned bright red. “I’m sorry, I’ll shut up now.”
“No, I think you’re onto something, but I don’t know what?” I waved her to keep going.
“I was studying stage makeup before I was infected. Sure, people know there’s a siren, but why do you have to go looking like you to feed? We could give you a wig, different wigs, maybe a seductive Mardi Gras mask, outfits that Sera Thomas wouldn’t be caught dead in, the whole thing for the nights you go.”
“That is an idea,” Simone agreed, smiling.
“I feel like I’m taking over your club idea and you’ll hate me for that,” I worried, unsure if that smile was real.
“No, Sera, you just might make it the best club in the world. I heard what you did the night of the bar game you judged. You sent seduction out into the crowd basically. This could work.”
“I have been wanting to discuss sending an apprentice, a female of our strain of wolf that might learn from a younger, of-this-age Alpha how she runs a pack.”
“You want to send a more powerful siren to work under me and learn how to be an Alpha?”
“Not more powerful, no, but older. You are so impressive because you are of our bloodline. There are other lines of siren that aren’t as strong, but stronger than normal wolves.” She dipped her head to Joan and Gayle as if to say sorry but it’s true. “She might be able to appear on the days you cannot, thus adding to Gayle’s wise subterfuge.”
“Why not just learn from you? Hell, I do.”
“Our pack is one of the oldest known packs, Sera. The power structure and balance, the alliances have been in place since the beginning of packs and vampires. A Dorcus has always been Alpha there. For any of our other female sirens to have a chance to come into their own and lead, they must take over another powerbase as the younger of my two birth daughters has. One day, your eldest sister will take my place.”
“No, no,” I gasped, starting to freak.
Alena immediately realized her mistake and reached for my hand. “It is not a death fight. I will simply step down and hand the pack leadership to her when she is ready after she can best my toughest Betas and earn her place. We are probably the most powerful pack in the world, Sera. Taking it over means you have to be the most powerful.”
“Might be worth her visiting and getting access to new food to help her power too,” Simone suggested, and then realized her mistake. “Not that I’m trying to push you out, Alena. No, never, but it’s just, you said it was—”
“I knew what you meant, young panther, and I think it’s wise as well, since she has not much restraint and is a bit spoiled as the one who will wear the crown, as the saying goes. But my point is, the sirens who would visit would see how Sera works, learn different ways to survive other packs that aren’t so set in old ways, even do things better maybe. It would also help tip the scales for male to female pack leaders, as there are not many women who can hold a pack.”
“As long as it’s damn clear that they’re not touching my pack or its leadership, yeah, I’m okay taking an apprentice who’s older and knows about things I don’t.” She lowered her gaze, and I laughed. “Oh, Alena, I’m not stupid. You wanted to give me a female siren advisor who can work with me all the time since you can’t and I can’t take a leave and get training in Greece. I’m not an idiot.” I leaned in and kissed her cheek. “But I love you for it.”
“We want New York taken over, yes?” Simone checked, the wheels working in her mind.
“Hey, one crazy pack takeover a month, okay?”
“It’s the first of July,” she reminded me.
“Fine, one crazy plan a month, and I think this club idea is the one for this month.”
“Fair enough. You are supposed to be resting more. So where do we go from here?”
“Sera becomes your partner in the club since yours didn’t have the balls to stand up to Vlad,” Alena answered easily as if she were signing me up for some Girl Scout cookies and not a business I knew nothing about. “Zeno and I will be here for the full moon and through next weekend for sure. You two will go visit these other Vegas clubs and see what you like or what you would change for your own. And come up with a catchy name so as to start drawing appeal. Siren’s Kiss maybe? And Sera will do her police thing to revert the strings Vlad pulled.”
“Oh, just like that?” I snickered, shaking my head. “I don’t know how to run a club, Alena.”
“Noe was going to be more a silent partner, or quieter partner at least,” Simone admitted, nervously watching my response.
“Awesome because I would never sleep if I tried to get in on running a damn club. And being involved in the day-to-day of it would complicate my job. A lot.”
“Then partners?” Simone stuck out her hand, and oddly enough I found myself taking it. I had no idea the financial ramifications or what I was really jumping into, but I would need to feed, and if I could help make the pack stronger, well, that kept us all safe.
And if I was being honest, it sounded fun. I mean, I could walk into a hot club and be like, yeah, I’m an owner here. That did sound pretty damn cool.
After that, we got to work, and a lot of work it was. Vlad had been a very, very bad boy, and I was ready to do a lot more than win against him after finding out how deep the rabbit hole went.
2
I’d already had a sit down with Vlad scheduled for that next morning, which happened to be the first day of the lunar cycle, so I was on edge. Last month I’d taken over the pack, and the shock and trauma of killing Engle had overridden all my default settings as a wolf. But as Riley had warned me, after aligning with my wolf, the full moon affected me quite differently.
It wasn’t the good kind of different where I had a handle on my shit. Oh joy.
“Thank you for agreeing to this and coming,” Vlad greeted as I walked into his house with my entourage. “Though, I am uncertain as to why it is not just you.”
“You have your security, I have mine,” I told him easily, nodding to Hagan and Reagan. “The last time I was here, it seems I had need of them, and we were friends then. We’re negotiating now, and I’m allowed backup. Simone, well, th
is involves Simone as well, so she’s here.”
“As you wish. I will tell the kitchen.”
“We didn’t come to eat, Vlad. Whatever they have is fine. Coffee is enough.” He nodded and gestured to his dining room table. I sat on one end with Simone on my right, Hagan and Reagan standing behind my chair being good security. On Vlad’s right was Tristan with Noah and Remus at Vlad’s back. I knew why he’d picked Noah, the message clear to remember that Noah was helping me professionally, and personally I had attachments to him, but he stood on Vlad’s side.
Oh, how that move would backfire today.
“Now, we were going to discuss giving Tristan back to me and hopefully breaking your bond and hold over him,” Vlad started with a bang.
“Giving? No, I never said giving. I did, however, say it might be better if he was one of your vampires again.”
His eyes stirred with something that looked almost like a fight, and my wolf liked the idea she was so on edge. “So you do not plan on giving him to me? You want to trade for him? I have no desire to lose a vampire to you for someone who doesn’t need to be mine in name. You want to free Tristan from the hold you have on him, Seraphine. That is a favor already, and you have enough vampires.”
“How did you feel when you were in Vegas, Tristan? Did you get a clearer head and lose some of the crazy being tied to my blood gave you?” I already knew the answer from the conversation he’d had with Alena.
“Yes, I returned more to myself the longer I was away from you,” he concurred, glancing between Vlad and me.
“I don’t actually need you to do shit, Vlad. I could send him to Greece and free him of my influence. Alena could always use a vampire to wash her cars.”
“You would never be so cruel to Tristan. He likes it here.”
“Try me. I’m pretty fucking pissed at him after his scaring the boys, leaving the goddamn state, and then returning and almost ruining our fun at the cook-off the day after I got out of the hospital. We don’t know it’s my blood that made the problem, or Tristan was always a jealous person and never knew it. But I’ve also had other vampires offer to break the bond and allow me to rebond him without blood.”
